Art of manufacturing cement-steel.



G. H. BENJAMIN.

A RT OFMANUFAGTURING CEMENT STEEL.

`APPLIQATION FILED Dm 2a, 1911.

' Patented Mar.r4,1.91'3.

- 7 i6 'g w `25v my invention into eiect.

GEORGE nrLLARD BENJAMIN, or NEW- Yo'nx, N, Y?

f, am' 0E irnnorne'runme oEMEN'r-s'rEEL.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Pu tented Mar. 4, 1913.

' Appiimm" ma member 2a, 1911. serial No. 367,478.

To all what?, z'zimay concern."

Bejit known that I, Gnomi-z HILLARD BENJAMrN, a citizen ef the United States, residing at New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new .and useful Improvements 'luft-he. Art of Manufacturing Cement- Steel, "'o which Vthe following isa,specificatuin`V f My inventiondepends upon the beer-.vedi

fact, that if a gas or .an oleagitbodyeiin taining carbon, ,is disassociated in the vpresenceof a body of iron heated toa ha hmm@k peratureby an electric current, an under.

conditions where' atmospheric air cannotv nd access to the body of iron, the carbon setfree (which is in a nascentcondition) will combine with the iron.

The purpose of my invention is the production 0f a better grade of steelfizith more 'ble under the present methodsemploye l The-accompanyingldiagrammatic drawingawill serve to illustrate sucha furnace.

` constru tion as may be employed in carrying I wish-'t understood'that I donotin any 'wvise limit myself to the character of the furnace employed, as such furnace will vary-f Y in construction in accordance with the char? acter and form of the metal treated, and. character of thel gas or olefiant body intro-l dud.^ v lflthe drawing: 5 representsrthe furnace,

VAformed of a refractory n'iaterial,K provideI j :with a removable cov cr'. iurangcd inthe top of the furnace are electrodes' 7-8, and the bottom 'of the furnace an elect-rode 9, which are adjustable to compensate for wear. These electrodes are "respectively connected 40 to .the brushes A, B,- C, of a three phase dynamo electric machine D. I refer to use a three phase machine as I find y so doing, rthatea more uniform heat can be obtained Vany other arrangement, although I sli it understood. that I do not limit my- "self inanywise to theemployment 'Of a three phase current `or-to the disposition of .the electrodes as shown. The electrodes are arranged tocontact with puddle-bars 1 41N '5o stacked in the-furnace.

Connected with the .top-ofthe furnace 5., is a tall chimney 11, and on the' top of the -'p'ressures stated, as "the pressure ma anywhere from lslbs.-v to 300 lbs.` to thee chimnefa weighted valve 12. Connected Ato the bottom furnace,.is a pipe 13, which 'forms oneend of a coil 14, located coil is connected@ '-Pnp '16,'-A itself COH- nected through a.'

0f gas .Ori oeent body, retaining [The `u, "with anyy Suite101@ eeeeral'modfbfvperfn employed! is asl follows s Theelectriccurrentgisturned 'on the puddle-bars heated toared'heatgf The gas or oleiant vapor is `partially'heated` the heater- 15`and is then turned into the: ,int'erior'ofthefurnace andallowed to'w f through thefmnace, thevalve 12 being open I until all of theoxid onthe surfacetof the firon-is reduced.l The' valve"l2 is then closed and .the 'gas or -olefiant vapor pumped-into the furnace at a pressure, which .pressure., will depend-uponfthe character of the metal treated. -If the ironis in any sense porous,

.. the pressure` neednotexceed 45.1bs. to the" square inch. I f. the iron 4is dense, the pressure can be-increased up-to 390 lbs.\ tothe square inch.- I -do not limit myself to the square inchnWhen the Avalve is" closed and the gas. introduced, the temperature ofthe metal is increased by increasing the amount of current; The temperature may be maintained' constant or varied, from `a dull'redheat to a point within a few degrees of the melting point ofthe metal. In prac' tice I find it is preferable to heat the metal toa dull red heat for an hour, then increase the temperature of the metal to almost the meltlng point for ten minutes, and'then lower toa dullred heat. The gas or oleant vapor, when brought into contact with the highly heated metal, is'disassociated into its elements, carbon and hydrogen.- .The carbon enters into combinationwith the iron,

and the hydrogen (by reason of its specific gravity) rises to the top ofthe furnace and lntofthe chimney 11, accumulating therein until Vthe pressure is `suilcent to open the valve l2, when 4the hydrogen flows out to be collected in any suitable receptacle (not shown). The purpose of raisin the temperat-ure of the metal above a du l red heat and above the disassociating point of the gas or oleant body, is two-fol r (1) by reason of the. heat imparted, to i mcrease the Vmolecto bring the iron intocondition, by reason theiron to the action of such carbon aswell olefiant body. I may introduce into the furnace, a powdered halogen, such for instance tion with the factpreviously stated, to'wit,

condition, in which case. however, the tem` neratures would 55 and thus carboniierthe iron not only upon treated. It is found in practice, that after the conditionsare present for intimate-and stacked.

nears probable that a small the hydmgen set freeienters-into combina# amount of hvdrogen. The carbon associated ulai' vibration in the body of iron, and

of which the carbon, ,as it conibinesvxvithv the iron, Wilt ,sink into'the body of the iron its surface, but 4attheinterior of Athe bodiesabout eight ,hours ofcontinuous heating, the iron will' have' absorbed approximately 5 carbon.

carbon of a graphitic character, and subject as the carbon separated from the gas or as chlorin, luorin, for the urpose of utilize ing suoli a body as a cata ytic agent to aid the chemical combination between the'iron and carbon. I may (as ordinarilyemployed in the production of cement steel)v introduce grinders waste, aione or accompanied with graphitic carbon, and any other body or bodies which will promote'combination.

I prefer to use an alternating current, for tiro reasons: (l) to produce the required heat, and (2) to set up a vibratory move-- ment in the body of iron treated. In practice I have found a current of 25 cycles as' suitable for the purpose, although I may use a current of a greater numberof cycles.

It will be observed that byreasonrof the 'disassociation of the gas or oleliant rapor, bothl the carbon and hydrogen are ina nas-l cent condition. ,Taking this factinconnecthat the iron is in molecular vibration by reason or" heatI and the transmitted current;

rapid combination bet-Ween the Vcarbon and the iron, which in fact results. In this specification I have describedthe iron treated, as in tlie'vform of puddle-bars It will be understood b v those skilled in the art, that the treatment-abov disclosed may be applied to iron in a molten be varied to insure the fluiditv of the iron.

While I cannot state it as a fact, it appercentage ofi tion with the iron'and carbon.

The steel produced.y bv the methodeL above described is. fine in grain, and has all-the characteristics of fine cement steel. It also shows, on analysis, the presence of a small with the' steel is apparently converted under the high temperature, by the presence of the hydrogen, rinto graphitic carbon.

'Having thus described my invention, I claim: i

1. The herein described improvement in the art of manufacturing cement steel, which consists in disassociating a body containing carbon and hydrogen, in the presence of iron heated to a high temperature by A g fan .electric current and under conditions f lr-I may vary the ,treatment above described' Whereit Will not vbe subjected to the action .of the atmosphere.

2. `The herein described improvement in the .artof manufacturing cement steel, which consists in disassociating a gaseous body of the CH group in the presence of iron heated to a' high temperature byan `electric current' Yand under conditions Wherev the atmosphere is excluded.

3.' The hereinl described'improvement inl 'the art of manufacturing cement '-steel, wliichconsists in 'subjecting a body of ironA to the high temperature eii'ects of la transmitted electric current. vvarying the temper ature at intervals, and simultaneously sub iecting said iron to the action of a gas of the CH group, While at the atmosphere.

4. The herein described improvement in the artof manufacturing `cement steel, which consists in subjecting puddle-bars to the heating and vibratory effects of a transmitted polyphase current of electricity, and

simultaneously to the action of a hydrocar-4 bon body which Willbe disassociatedby the heat of the metal` and preventing the access of atmospheric air to said body of iron.

5. The herein described improvement in the Sametime excluding the art of manufacturing cement steel,

which consists in subjecting iron to the high temperature eifects'of a transmitted electric current. and simultaneously to the. action of a gas of the CH group brought into contact with the iron under pressure. and under lcmliions where atmospheric air will be exc u e 6.' The herein described improvement in the artofl manufacturing cement steel.'

whichconsists subjecting .a bodv of iron to ythe actionof an electricvcur'rentof a 'character which" will raise the temperature of the iron to a high degreeandaidsin estab .lishing motion in the molecules of the iron` and` simulta-neouslv subjecting' said iron to the action of a bodv from which carbon and hydrogen will be. disassociated in a nascent mmdition.l and continuing the heatuntil a definite percentageof Vcarbon has been absorbed bv'the iron.

7. The herein 'describedximnrovement in the art;V 8f? m'ani'ifacturing cement steel.

which consists in subiecting abodv of iron. y to the action of an electricfcurrent of acharacter; which vwill raise the temperature ofthe iron to a high degree and aid in estabisa.

lishng motion in the molecules of the iron, In testimony whereof, I aix my signaand simultaneously subjecting said iron 1gov tuve, in the presence of two Witnesses. the act-ion of a bod from Whlch carbon and hydrogen will be isassociated in a nascent GEORGE HILLRD BENJAMIN' 5 condition, and continuing the heat until a l Wltnesses:

definite percentage of carbon and lhydrogen' `HELEN E. KOELSCH, has been combined with the iron.v i ELI VVEILL.

Copies of this patient may be obtained for ve centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of'ratntl,

., Washington, D. C. 

